Looking out over Bev Towbridge's 250 acre organic Murawai Valley Farm.

“I told him I would grow our own organic meat and it kind of went from there,” Bev told Rural Living. It wasn’t too long before she discovered their small block was …well…too small.

“We had a small block and I’d been renting and leasing bits of land all over the place, so we decided we needed something bigger.”

Nestled in the hills beyond Kaukapakapa and certified organic through AgriQuality, the 250 acre block is also home to several heritage breeds.

“Basically I farm sheep and beef cattle but instead of conventional breeds, I use heritage ones.

Originally from Devon, England, where she also owned and ran an organic farm, Bev based her philosophy on working with the natural ecosystems – and giving them a bit of a helping hand if they needed it.

“It seemed the logical thing to do to use indigenous breeds.”

As such, no chemicals, drugs or prophylactics are used on the livestock, rather their natural immunity is supported by stress-free and nutrient –rich lifestyles and the animals are encouraged to exhibit their natural behaviours and live long, contented lives.

According to Bev the climate in Northland is similar to that of Devon and her heritage breeds thrive on it.

Bev feeds sheep nuts to some Arapawa ewes.

The Devon Ruby Red cattle, which Bev considers to be her main beef breed, in particular seem suited to the local climate but she has also had some success cross-breeding them with Dexters to produce a small lifestyle cow.

“We’re working on developing a cross breed to keep the Dexters smaller without miniaturising them,” Bev said.

“You lose a lot of vigour when you breed the dwarving gene, but using smaller Devon over Dexters makes for a small, quiet, easy to handle beast.”

As well as the cattle, Bev also has a large flock of registered pedigree Wiltshire Horn sheep, which are a commercial as well as a lifestyle breed, as well as Arapawa sheep, Arapawa goats and Large Black Pigs.

“Wiltshires are similar to the Dorper in that they are self-shedding meat sheep, but they’re better suited to New Zealand conditions as they like it wet, cold and hilly.”

“I breed and sell them mostly for the pedigree market or the meat market.”

Bev is an Arapawa Sheep enthusiast having bred a semi-commercial lifestyle flock from animals taken directly from Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sound.

Many of the Arapawa flocks in the north island of New Zealand have sheep from Muriwai Valley Farm and Bev sells starter flocks for people wanting to try breeding this unusual feral animal.

“People like to call it a ‘starter pack’,” she said with a grin. “It comprises about four ewes and a ram for around $800, plus GST.

“It’s enough to feel like a cohesive unit but not too expensive. I include an information sheet so they have everything they need at their fingertips.”

The starter flock is sufficient for those with a couple of acres to get started.

Large Black Pigs, which can grow to around seven feet long, were historically used to run behind other farm enterprises cleaning up the waste-streams, like the whey from the dairy shed, or the apple crushing from cider orchards.

“People would have crops or make cider or something and the pigs would clean up behind them and produce something really profitable like pork and bacon.”

Even the dogs at Muriwai Valley Farm are Heritage Breeds.

Bev used to breed the Swedish Vallhund cattle herding dogs, and also keeps a Turkish Anatolian shepherd or Kangal.

These dogs are used to protect stock from wolves and other predators – the females are kept in packs and run the predator down and kill it. They are currently also being used for this on big stock farms in the African bush, and in Australia.

“They’re lovely soft dogs for a family, but they don’t take too well to new dogs on their patch!”

The farm plans to run Open days in 2008 to showcase the farm and demonstrate to people first hand their livestock and land management techniques; this follows on from the success and demand for the workshops held in previous years on pastoral organic farming using heritage breeds.

“We’re hoping to run more of these.  They’ve been really popular.”

Next on Bev’s list is to start up an organic co-operative for small to medium-sized beef and sheep farms. “There’s currently no way of getting our organic meat in the North to the many emerging markets both in NZ and abroad.

“There’s no certified abbatoirs, carriers won’t take small loads, and it’s difficult to maintain continuity of supply. A co-op could be the way to make it work for all of us.”